Diaper clip



June 3, 1969 A. L. SULLIVAN 3,

DIAPER CLIP Filed Aug. 14, 1967 111!!! 111111 IIIIJ Inventor AlanL.5ullivcm.

H-Hnrne United States Patent 3,447,209 DIAPER CLIP Alan L. Sullivan,Rte. 2, Box 153, Burlington, Wis. 53105 Filed Aug. 14, 1967, Ser. No.660,515 Int. Cl. A44b 9/00, 21/00 US. Cl. 2487 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE This invention relates to a diaper clip which when used inpairs are far superior to safety pins for fastening diapers to infantsand small children. Specifically, the diaper clip comprises a pair oftop joined spaced apart plates which have positioned between theiropposed inner faces a spacing leaf. The plates as divided by the leafthereby have formed therebetween two diaper edge receiving channels. Theinner faces of the plates are each fitted with one or more pins whosepoints on one face project in the opposite direction to the points ofthe pins positioned on the face of the oppsite plate.

Introduction Tradionally, diapers for infants and small children havebeen fastened with large safety pins. While safety pins have been usedfor this purpose for many years they are subject to severaldisadvantages.

One objection to safety pins for fastening diapers is that they aresharp and can prick either the child being fitted or the person fittingthe diaper. While very few children are ever actually pricked there isalways the question in the minds of many parents as to whether or not achild has been accidentally pinned to the diaper.

A serious problem connected with the use of safety pins as diaperfasteners is that on occasion they are left in the unfastened positionwhere they can be reached by small children. Open safety pins in thehands of children can be a real danger to the well-being of the child.Serious injury such as the loss of an eye or damage to the esophagus orstomach occasioned by swallowing opened safety pins is not uncommon.

Another difliculty which arises when safety pins are used to fastendiapers is that after the diaper becomes wet due to use it becomes loosearound the waist of the child and falls down. Also the diaper willbecome loose due to the normal activity of many children. When safetypins are used as the fasteners it is time consuming for busy mothers torepin the diaper.

Based on the above discussion it would be of great benefit to parentsand others who diaper children if a better fastening device wereavailable which was easily tightened and was incapable of prickingchildren and those who place diapers on them. Also of benefit would be adiaper fastener which when accidently left within the reach of childrenwould not be harmful as are opened safety pins.

Objects of the invention It therefore becomes an object of the inventionto provide an improved fastener for diapers which is safe, pre- Thedrawings For a better understanding of the invention reference may behad to the drawings, of which:

3,447,209 Patented June 3, 1969 FIGURE 1 is a plan view showing thediaper clip of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical side view of the diaper clip of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a top view broken away, showing two ends of a diaper securedthereby, and FIGURE 4 shows a child diapered with the clips of theinvention.

In the drawing like parts have like numbers.

The invention With particular reference to FIGURE 1 the diaper clip isshown to have a pair of plates 10 and 12. These plates have-respectivelyan outer face 14 and 16 and opposed inner faces 18 and 20. The faces arejoined at their top by bridge 22 to which is attached spacing leaf 24.This leaf is usually of the same dimension and size as the plates.

As can be seen to best advantage in FIGURE 2, the spacing leaf and theopposed inner faces 18 and 20 form channels 26 and 28. These channelsare of suflicient width so as to receive the edges of conventionaldiapers. The spacing leaf 24 allows the diaper edges to readily slide inchannels 26 and 28 without frictionally contacting each other. As can beseen from FIGURE 1 the entire bottom end of the clip is open.

To engage the diapers edges within the channels the opposed inner faces18 and 20 are fitted with pointed pins 30 and 32 and preferablyadditional pins 34 and 36. The back ends 40 of the pins are fitted tothe outer edges 42 and 44 of the plates by means of suitable mountingtabs 46. It can thus be seen that the pins mounted on one plate face inthe opposite direction to the pins mounted on the other plate.

By this arrangement it is possible to puncture the diaper edges with thepins and securely hold them in place. To improve the holding ability ofthe pins they should be so mounted as to be slightly spaced apart fromthe plates. An important feature of the invention resides in the factthat the points of the pins are contained within the clip therebyeliminating the danger of the user or wearer being pricked.

When constructed of suitable materials with rounded smooth surfaces theclips, even if swallowed, present no sharp surfaces. Also they arealways in what may be considered as the closed position since there areno moving parts.

In operation the ends of the diaper 48 and 50, as shown in FIGURES 3 and4, are placed in the channels 26 and 28 and pulled in the oppositedirections to sung the diaper around the waist of the child. Whenreleased the pins hook the fabric and hold the diaper securely in place.This same pulling action allows the diaper to be tightened when itloosens. When it is desired to remove the clip thumb pressure on thediaper near the edge of the clip readily disengages the fabric from theends of the plus.

It is of course understood that while the description thus far has beendirected to the use of one clip they are used in pairs when used tofasten diapers. See particularly FIGURE 4.

The clips may be constructed of any number of desirable materials suchas stainless steel, plastics and the like. Plastics such as high densitypolypropylene are preferred since the clips can be easily mass produced.When stampable metals are used to form the clips the pins can be formedfrom the faces of the plates by known expanded metal perforationtechniques.

Conclusion The invention fills a long-felt need in providing a safeadjustable device for securing diapers to children. It is easilyproduced and provides a long felt need in the art.

I claim:

1. A diaper clip comprising a pair of top joined spaced apart plateswhich have opposed inner faces, a spacing leaf between the opposed innerfaces of the plates whereby diaper edge receiving channels are formed,at least one pointed pin positioned between the inner face of each ofthe plates and the leaf with the points of the pins being positioned toface in the opposite direction with respect to each other, and theshanks of the pins lying in planes slightly spaced from andsubstantially parallel to said inner faces and being of sufiicientextent to firmly hook portions of a diaper forced into said channelsafter the diaper portions have been pulled in opposite directions tosnug the diaper around the waist of a child.

2. The diaper clip of claim 1 where there are at least two pins fittedto the inner face of each of the plates.

4 3. The diaper clip of claim 2 where the pins are fitted near one edgeof each of the plates and do not extend beyond the opposite edge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 492,396 2/ 1893 Fries 2487701,351 6/ 1902 Keller. 796,696 8/1905 Brockhaus. 1,772,395 8/ 1930Iseman. 2,931,747 4/ 1960 Dexter.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 24243

